diff --git a/common/predictive-text/worker/models/trie-model.ts b/common/predictive-text/worker/models/trie-model.ts
index 2d3c33cd08..91ae4f3d26 100644
--- a/common/predictive-text/worker/models/trie-model.ts
+++ b/common/predictive-text/worker/models/trie-model.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
 
     constructor(trieData: object, options: TrieModelOptions = {}) {
       this._trie = new Trie(trieData as Node);
-      this.breakWords = options.wordBreaker || wordBreakers.default;
+      this.breakWords = options.wordBreaker || wordBreakers.placeholder;
     }
 
     configure(capabilities: Capabilities): Configuration {
diff --git a/common/predictive-text/worker/models/wordlist-model.ts b/common/predictive-text/worker/models/wordlist-model.ts
index 8cdbd7da9f..938308d128 100644
--- a/common/predictive-text/worker/models/wordlist-model.ts
+++ b/common/predictive-text/worker/models/wordlist-model.ts
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
       // [wordform, count] pairs. Since this model does not
       // support weighting, discard the count.
       this._wordlist = wordlist.map(([word, _count]) => word);
-      this.breakWords = options.wordBreaker || wordBreakers.default;
+      this.breakWords = options.wordBreaker || wordBreakers.placeholder;
     }
 
     configure(capabilities: Capabilities): Configuration {